SPAR Scotland wins Technology Initiative of the Year at The Grocer Gold Awards 2024
SPAR Scotland, the leading symbol group in Scotland, won the coveted “Technology Initiative of the Year” award at The Grocer Gold Awards 2024 held at the iconic Royal Albert Hall in London last night (2nd July 2024).
The group won Technology Initiative of the Year for its rollout of an in-store digital innovation solution that includes discreet camera technology to help manage in-store ranges and availability.
The rollout and implementation of the project, managed by Graham Murdoch, IT Director and Sonya Harper, Central Operations Director, in SPAR stores across Scotland has been the group’s supplying wholesaler, CJ Lang & Son Ltd, largest investment in its history, showing shoppers and suppliers how the business is modernising and moving convenience retail forward.
Judges called it a “very comprehensive ESEL solution”, while one SPAR employee testimonial stated that “in all my 26 years’ service with this company, it is, in my opinion, the biggest game-changer to date”.
Chief Executive Officer Colin McLean at CJ Lang & Son said: “We are thrilled to win the Grocer Gold award for Technology Initiative of the Year. Well done to everyone in the business involved across IT, Central Operations and our team at SPAR Crosshouse, as it was a competitive category against four other finalists.
“Electronic shelf edge labels (ESEL’s) have been a gamechanger for our SPAR Scotland store colleagues replacing hours of manual labour which are now reinvested into sales generating activities. In addition, ESELs are improving the shopper experience, driving productivity and helping with our sustainability goals by eliminating the use of paper at the point of sale.
“We are progressively rolling ESELs out across all our company owned estate and they should be installed in all stores by the end of this year.
“In addition, we have gone one step further in our SPAR Crosshouse store, near Kilmarnock by trialling leading edge camera technology which our store manager Kelly and her team can use to manage their store range and in-store availability. Whilst still very much at the trial stages, directionally, this could change the future of store operations over the years to come.”
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